Instant messaging applications and social networking websites have become increasingly popular as media for maintaining, growing, and initiating relationships. This media utilizes the Internet or some other network to connect users across the globe. To employ instant messaging, a user typically downloads a local instant messaging client and sends messages to one or more online users with use of the client. Social networking websites, meanwhile, often provide a user with space on one of the website's servers. This space allows the user to create a personal Webpage or the like, from which the user may communicate information about his or herself to other users of the Website.
Both instant messaging applications and social networking Websites often employ techniques for a user to monitor family or friends within the instant messaging or social network community. These same techniques also allow the user to communicate a status of the user to the family or friends. One specific technique enables the user to manually input text that will appear on other users' instant messaging clients or social networking Webpages. This text could include, for example, a statement informing other users that the user is “currently away from [her] desk”. Unfortunately, current techniques require that a user manually enter this text or select the text from a very limited number of generic messages offered by the user's local instant messaging client.